Malcolm Campbell

@malcolmgcampbell.bsky.social

Postdoc in Uchida Lab, Harvard (dopamine, learning, circuit computation) | PhD in Giocomo lab, Stanford (grid cells, path integration, navigation) | NIH NIDA K99/R00 | Bridging theory and biology of animal learning and decision making

New paper! Congrats to @markplitt.bsky.social, Konstantin and team! The brain’s spatial map isn’t static but for hippocampus CA1 maps to change with experience, they need postsynaptic membrane fusion. A new link between synaptic machinery and flexible coding! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hippocampal place code plasticity in CA1 requires postsynaptic membrane fusion

Rapid delivery of glutamate receptors to the postsynaptic membrane via vesicle fusion is a central component of synaptic plasticity. However, it is un…

sciencedirect.com

My final paper from grad school is out! Thank you to @marisosa.bsky.social @ellasay.bsky.social and my co-first author Konstantin Kaganovsky! We show that reward and novelty coding in the hippocampus requires a specific membrane fusion protein implicated in activity-dependent AMPAR mobilization!

Lisa Giocomo@lgiocomo.bsky.social · 4mo ago

New paper! Congrats to @markplitt.bsky.social, Konstantin and team! The brain’s spatial map isn’t static but for hippocampus CA1 maps to change with experience, they need postsynaptic membrane fusion. A new link between synaptic machinery and flexible coding! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

What are the systems in neuroscience that we really have something that we can call “explanation” at all relevant levels, other than reflexive feed-forward like circuits. Here are a few that I would argue are getting there. Obviously not complete explanations but genuinely satisfying.

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Neuroscience has become increasingly concerned with prediction, and machine learning with causal explanation, with each field adopting methods from the other, writes @gershbrain.bsky.social. Will this bring us closer to understanding neural systems? www.thetransmitter.org/the-big-pict...

We’re looking for a new Research Tech! Our research tech is heading to graduate school (very exciting!), which means we’re recruiting someone new to join our team. The position involves hands-on neuroscience research in a collaborative environment. brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Jobs/job/Bra...

Research Technician

Research Technician position available in the Grienberger lab at Brandeis University. We are a new neuroscience group studying the cellular basis of learning and memory in the mammalian brain. This is...

brandeis.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com

I am incredibly excited and proud to share my first preprint from my postdoc! Thank you to all of the co-authors for all your hard work! Check out the paper for big insights into plasticity mechanisms in navigation circuits! And surprising motifs for inhibitory synaptic plasticity!

Yvette Fisher@yvetteefisher.bsky.social · 8mo ago

*First preprint from our lab* !!!!! How does the brain learn to anchor its internal sense of direction to the outside world? 🧭 led by Mark Plitt @markplitt.bsky.social & Dan Turner-Evans, w/ Vivek Jayaraman: “Octopamine instructs head direction plasticity” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Thread ⬇️

Schematic of how ER-EPG plasticity enables the bump of activity in EPGs to accurately track visual cues. As a fly makes a counter-clockwise turn (top to bottom) it will view visual cues (e.g. the sun) from a new angle and the EPG activity bump (red) will swing clockwise around the network by integrating self motion signals with these visual inputs. When the fly faces a different angle, distinct visual ER neurons are active. Plasticity forms a trough of weak synapses (large circles - strong synapses, small circles - weak synapses) that allow ER neurons with distinct visual tuning to move the EPG bump via disinhibition.

Heading to San Diego for #sfn25 today! I’ll be presenting a poster on this work Monday afternoon! looking forward to meeting neuroscientists! please stop by my poster or reach out if you’re going and want to talk motor neuro/behavior, evolution, neuroethology…or whatever else! 🧠🥳 #neuroskyence

Kelsey Tyssowski@kelseytea.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity! We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have: (1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs) (2) better hand dexterity (3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵

🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity! We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have: (1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs) (2) better hand dexterity (3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Evolutionary expansion of the corticospinal system is linked to dexterity in Peromyscus mice https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.16.682851v1

Finally out: our recent work with Nick Betley is a view into how the brain reshapes its behavior in the face of competing survival needs- and also a potential angle on treatment targets for enduring pain. A brief rundown... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A parabrachial hub for need-state control of enduring pain - Nature

Activity in a set of parabranchial neurons in the mouse brain is increased during chronic pain, predicts coping behaviour, and can be modulated by circuits activated by survival threats.

nature.com

Did you know that facial expressions reveal more than meets the eye? 🤯 Our new study shows that even a mouse's face 🐭 can reflect hidden neural computations🧠. Turns out, facial expressions are more than just emotions! We're so excited to see this paper out @natneuro.nature.com 🎉 🔗: rdcu.be/eIQzO

Facial expressions in mice reveal latent cognitive variables and their neural correlates

Nature Neuroscience - The face reveals more than just emotion. Cazettes, Reato and colleagues show that subtle facial movements reveal hidden cognitive states, reflecting the brain’s ongoing...

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